The Environmental Protection Act 1990 defines commercial and trade waste as waste from premises used for trade or business.
Waste also includes any oil used by the business. Waste oil should not disposed of down sinks in the business or in the drains outside. You need a contractor to come and collect and dispose of the waste oil correctly.
Duty of care
Every business that produces waste has a duty of care to:
- take all reasonable steps to keep the waste contained
- make sure that if you give your waste to someone else to dispose of that they are authorised to take it, transport it and dispose of it
- to keep waste transfer notes for the waste you dispose of
If you do not do this you can be prosecuted or given a fixed penalty notice.
To check if an individual or a company is authorised to remove, transport or dispose of waste you can search the public register.
Waste transfer note
When the waste has been removed you should be given a waste transfer note. You must keep this for 3 years. If you have a contract with a company to collect your waste they may provide you with a waste transfer note that will cover you for the length of the contract.
More advice
You can find more information and advice from the Environment Agency or our commercial waste fact sheet.
